It is midnight at the Orange Vélodrome in Marseille, the distant twinkling lights high in the mountains behind the stadium flicker through a veil of thundery mist as Thursday night reaches gently into Friday morning.

France’s Rugby World Cup caravan came south tonight from Paris via Lille to the balmy Mediterranean, and what a welcome it received.

The African coast is the next southerly landmass from this ancient port, so it was fitting that the host nation entertained the African qualifier Namibia in this Group A pool match.

To hear “La Marseillaise” sung in Marseille is something very special. As stirring a national anthem as you could wish for.

When you hear it sung at the Stade de France, the hairs on the back of the neck stand on end and a shiver goes down the spine.

But I have noticed the further south the anthem travels, the more passionate it is sung. When it down gets here to the south coast it swirls and echoes around the Orange Vélodrome and with the mountain tops visible through the gaps in the grandstands, it is an utterly glorious experience and last night it was extra special.

The temperature also appears to affect the tempo that the anthem is played at. In Paris it can be slow, but it accelerates the further south it travels so by the time it has reached Marseille, the transformation from “largo” to “allegro” is complete.

Tempo was something the boys in bleu were anxious to stick to, following a tricky time up north against Uruguay in their last match.

A fervent capacity crowd roared France on from the start and the boys in blue responded with a 6th minute try from Damian Penaud. 13 tries later it was a 96-0 win for France.

In between we witnessed rugby from the gods, one handed spin passes from Dupont, sleight of hand and angles of running that would have had a maths teacher purring.

But those rugby gods can be cruel and Johan Deysel’s red card for a head shot on Antoine Dupont could be a massive downer on a massive win.

There’s a suspicion of a crack or fracture in his jaw,” Galthié said. “He’s gone for tests. We’ll wait for the results before moving forward. We need to take advantage of this great victory and the players’ fine performance.”

The concern over Dupont muted the celebrations down at the Vieux Port, and Galthie must be in torment for not taking him off at half time when France were leading 54-0, but for now after a wonderful show down south a nation holds its breath.